And the race enters the hills for the first time. Today will determine who our first mountain jersey wearer is, as well as showing which of the sprinters is perhaps best equipped to deal with these hills. Manan is still in yellow and will be hopping that a break doesn’t stay away, but given the parcours that is entirely possible. The favourites for the bookkeepers today are Serbriakov, Greipel and Maksimov. Serebriakov won yesterday, Greipel is second in the points competition and Maksimov has been in third place in both of the previous two days.
There are four climbs today. The first, up the Braddock Heights is 3.4km in length at 4.6%. Following that the road winds up to the peak of Smithsburg Mountain, 3.6km in length at 2.5%. Descending from there the race goes to Mount Lena, which is the hardest climb today at 3.8km in length at 5.3%, but a max of only 6.1%. Finally, this leads to the second ascent of Smithsburg Mountain. Ultimately, none of these climbs are likely to hurt the legs of any of the big favourites, but some of the sprinters may well struggle. Time will tell.
Our first attack of today is from Emilien Viennet. The Frenchman was in the break on the first day and clearly got a taste for it.
And following him is... no one. That’s it, just a solo break for today. The peloton are happy to let him go. Most of the teams here have a sprinter except Cerne, who may be trying to conserve energy for their GC man Nicacio. Viennet lies 2’58” down on GC, having lost contact on the first day after being reeled in, so he doesn’t pose a huge threat to Manan’s jersey.
Other riders are hungry for the leader’s jersey, however, and with only one man up front, the three sprint points today represent a real opportunity for the sprinters to gain time and take a shot at this jersey. 4’20” after Viennet crosses the first sprint point, 76km into the stage, the sprinters cross the line in the hunt for the points and time. It is Serbriakov who just beats out Greipel to the line.
Viennet takes the first mountain points, obviously. It is almost certain that he will be our first mountain jersey wearer, which is great news for Aker, whose sprinter Jorgensen has been struggling a bit.
Back in the peloton, another man is showing some interest in picking up some points today. That man is David Kopp, the aggressive rider who has come ninth in both the previous stage’s sprint. The man can climb hills decently and may be someone to watch out for in this competition. He takes second place over the top and Polito leads the peloton over, just over 5 minutes behind Viennet.
Over the second mountain prime, Kopp once again attacks to take the second place on the climb, and this time the peloton is lead through by Hoste. WWE are really doing a lot of work on the front. The gap is hovering around the six minute mark with 80km still to ride.
At the second sprint point the gap has dropped to 5’16”, but we see why WWE have been working as Greipel puts in a great sprint to take second place ahead of Maksimov. This puts Greipel in the provisional points jersey and just 2 seconds off Manan’s time. Maksimov, on the other hand, just gets yet another third place.
Up front, Viennet has reached Mount Lena. It is 3.8km in length at 5.3%, but unlike a lot of European climbs it just builds up steadily and only maxes out at 6.1%. His gap is down to 4’41” with about 53km left to ride.
Viennet goes over with his lead now at 4’04”. The bunch set a steady pace the entire way up, and there was no attack from Kopp so Hoste and Monsalve take the points for second and third place over the top.
And on our second climb of Smithsburg Mountain, Viennet of course takes the maximum points and thus gets a great start on the mountain jersey. This time Kopp does attack and Monsalve leads the peloton not far behind him. The lead is down to 3’17” with 35.4km to ride.
There is a short descent before a long flat section to the finish line but before the finish there is one more sprint points left. Interestingly, none of the teams seem too concerned with pacing on the front of the pack, but the gap comes down just from riders setting a light tempo. Viennet must be getting tired.
The gap is down to 1’40” at the sprint point and leading the peloton through once again is Greipel, this time ahead of Serebriakov. This puts Greipel in the provisional leader’s jersey, as well as the sprint jersey. All this could change at the end, however, with 20 bonus seconds on offer for the winner.
As the peloton reorganises after this sprint the gap goes back out to over 2’00”. With 13km to go, it still sits at this level and things are looking good for our lone leader. Hollister and WWE have finally got themselves organised, however, and things are looking much better with 10km to go, as the gap comes down to 1’12”.
With 5km to go, Viennet is definitely feeling the pressure as the gap comes down to 35”.
Two trains have formed behind him. WWE and Hollister once again prove their determination to set up the sprints.
On the left is the WWE train, which is Polito Becerra Greipel De Fauw Sicard
On the right is the Hollister train which is Dempster Martinez Serebriakov Kip Maksimov Feillu
Everything changes, however, as WWE go wide around a corner. This results in Polito losing his position, but Becerra manages to drift over and interrupt Serebriakov’s position. Greipel is now 4th wheel, and Serebriakov will have to shove his way forward to get back in position.
The two Hollister lead-out men slow up for Serebriakov, and Becerra overtakes them. With 2.4km to go, he makes the catch and Viennet’s brave solo effort is finished, about 190km after it started.
Around a 90 degree turn near the end, Martinez speeds ahead and puts Serebriakov as second wheel, just ahead of the WWE duo.
Martinez holds pole position until 800 metres to go. His lead-out today is much better than the two previous stages. Serebriakov makes his move, with Greipel speeding up behind him. However, he has picked the same side as Martinez is on, slowing him down somewhat.
As Greipel comes around Martinez he realises that it is too late. Serebriakov makes it back-to-back stages!
Behind him Kip managed to ride his wheel most of the way to second place, for the second day in a row. Greipel takes the last place on the podium. Surprisingly Kwok is in fourth place, clearly he was helping Manan and that didn’t quite work out so well. Maksimov takes fifth, which at least isn’t third. Sicard is in sixth to everyone’s surprise. De Fauw manages seventh, our yellow jersey Manan is in eighth, Jorgensen takes ninth and Kopp is tenth.
Looking at the jerseys, Serebriakov becomes our new leader, as well as the best young rider! He is only 8 seconds clear of Greipel, who has not been able to capitalise on his bonus seconds. Manan drops to third place. Viennet is obviously our new king of the mountains competition leader. The points jersey competition is rather close, with Serebriakov only five points clear of Greipel. Kip, Manan and Maksimov are still all within reach in that competition too and it will be interesting to see it progress.
Stage Results:
General Classification:
Points Classification:
Mountain Classification:
Young Rider Classification:
Team Classification: Edited by CountArach on 10-07-2012 14:52
